TOWIE: Gemma Collins asks new super-slim Josie Gibson to help her lose weight ahead of Series 8 (START DATE CONFIRMED)

The Only Way Is Essex star, Gemma Collins, has, like thousands of other British dieters, been so impressed with the results of Josie Gibson’s new slimming campaign she has called on the former Big Brother winner herself to help her shed a few pounds ahead of the new series of her hit ITV2 reality show.

As we reported yesterday Bristol girl Josie has shed a huge amount of weight, dropping from a size 20 down to a slender size 10 after being disgusted with herself after unflattering pictures of her last summer showed her tucking into junk food whilst bulging out of a bikini on holiday.
To do this she made her own keep fit DVD, Slim in 30 seconds, which took the fitness charts by storm as her own personal results of her workout began circulating in glamorous pictures of the star.

And it would seem that another reality star who has, like Josie, suffered with yo-yo weight issues, TOWIE’s Gemma Collins, has recruited Josie to help her achieve the same results.

According to now magazine Gemma, who fans saw go through a messy break up with co-star James Argent during the last series of The Only Way Is Essex, sent Josie a private message on social networking site, Twitter, asking for her help in losing weight too.

“Gem thinks Josie looks absolutely incredible and she was a size 20 to begin with, just like Gemma is now,” a source told the publication.

“As much as Gemma hates working out, she is really up for the challenge this time.”

Like Josie, Gemma hasn’t always been a large girl. Seven years ago she was a stunning size 10, like Josie is now, but after a devastating miscarriage and heart breaking split from her long term partner, Dan, Gem began to pile on the pounds.

Gemma has revealed that her ideal goal is to slim down to a size 14-16 – we imagine no smaller as she reported earlier this year that James Argent had told her that if she slimmed down to a size 12 then they could have a future together, and to be honest we would rather be fat than have that too!

Josie is confident that, if she sticks to her fitness regime, Gemma is more than capable of achieving her goal, and has commented:

“She needs to stick with it – it’s better to do a few minutes every other day than loads once a week,

“And don’t worry about falling off the wagon; just get back on it the next day.

“I’ve told Gemma that it’s better to go for it full-out for 30 seconds at a time, than do something that is sort of doable for 30 minutes.”

We are sure that Gemma is hoping the results will take as long as the regime as it has today been confirmed that the new series, series 8, of The Only Way Is Essex is to hit ITV2 our screens on February 24th!

As like previous series the show, which follows the lives of the Essex gang as they embark on fake tans, nightclubs and trips to the dump, will be filmed as close to broadcast time as possible, meaning that we should be able to see the results of Gemma’s keep fit campaign unfold before our very eyes (and we hope it could also mean that we get a sneaky peak cameo from Josie too!)

TOWIE will air Sunday and Wednesday nights at 10pm on ITV2/ ITV2 HD from Feb 24th.

Watch a time when Gemma was less embarrassed by her curves in the clip below: